Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 22, 1993 TAG: 9308220076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Nor for the Smith Mountain Chamber of Commerce/Partnership. The same could be said of fishing guide Bob King.
The chamber had invited White to sample Smith Mountain Lake's famous striped bass fishing, with the idea of getting exposure on the 50 stations that air his program.
But the striped bass were showing off, like kids or dogs who forget all their tricks when company shows up.
White and King, along with David Talbott, a chamber board member, boated down to the dam where they spotted stripers thrashing the surface as they ripped into schools of baitfish. The fish were behind the log boom that keeps boats about 300 yards away from the dam.
This is a favorite summer fishing spot for King, who rigged live shad about 5 feet below balloons. The wind and the current quickly moved the balloons and baits into the middle of the feeding fish.
"Although the stripers were feeding furiously at various points along the dam and near the shore on either side, the balloons were untouched," said Talbott, who is an accomplished fisherman.
"Are we in any danger of catching a fish?" asked White.
About this time somebody stepped on White' Sage fly rod and snapped it.
King figured it was time to bring out his secret weapon, a 4-foot long remote-controlled boat designed to take a baited hook well beyond the "No Trespassing" signs on the log boom and release it precisely where a striper is likely to gobble it up.
"Is this legal?" White asked. "Ain't nobody going to believe this!"
The first strike came at noon, a fish of about 12 pounds. After that, a 15-pounder hit a bait. Then another.
White had all the video he needed.
Now, back to his question: "Is it legal?"
That's something Capt. John Heslep, a state game warden, has heard before from anglers who have watched King and others use remote-controlled boats to catch fish well beyond the reach of conventional tackle.
A search of the Virginia Code and discussions with Appalachian Power Co., the company that owns the dam, have revealed that the technique is legal, Heslep said.
The code does say it is illegal to use devices other than rods and reels to catch fish, but that applies to the tailrace of Kerr Dam. The rule was put on the books in 1973 when fishermen rigged a pully across the tailrace to ferry their lures to stripers that couldn't be reached even with surf rods.
State officials quickly shut down that device, when numerous anglers complained that it was too much of an advantage for its users.
"I've heard people say, `That's cheating,' " King said of his remote-controlled boat. But they do so in jest, he believes. No one has gotten angry about it as far as he knows.
"We only do it about two months out of the year, when the weather is real hot," said King. "When we get our limit we quit. We never have caught an undersized fish down there."
Last week the technique produced a 20-pounder for King. A year ago, he landed a striper that weighed 22 pounds.
It takes a beefy reel to handle the 300 or so yards of line necessary to reach the fish. And there's considerable cranking involved in reeling in a striper from that distance.
"Bring your lunch," King jokes.
White appeared excited about getting the act on his show, which is scheduled to air next Saturday on WSET-Channel 13 at 7:30 a.m.
by CNB